


Make Friends Who Will Call You By Your Nickname Until They Forget It's a Nickname

by dearfriendicanfly



Category: Gintama
Genre: Gen, happy birthday Tay!!, what do I even tag this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-15
Updated: 2016-11-15
Packaged: 2018-08-31 05:21:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8565610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearfriendicanfly/pseuds/dearfriendicanfly
Summary: Nobunobu can't quite get the hang of nicknames.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jackopancake](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jackopancake/gifts).



> HAPPY (2nd) BIRTHDAY TAY!!!!! I meant for this to be a sakanobu fic but somewhere along the way it derailed and became more of a character study/gen fic oops. Still, I hope you like it! Thanks for being such a wonderful friend and spreading such good and lovely vibes. Sorry your birthday wasn't on the greatest day this year, but today is another day, and it's all about you this time!! Have a great year my friend. <3
> 
> (This is meant to take place after everything's settled and Nobunobu is beginning to rebuild the country with Sakamoto and Zura's help, by the way.)

"Did you just... call me _Nobu_?"

Sakamoto Tatsuma raises his eyebrows, taken aback. "Ain't that your name?"

"No, it damn well isn't, and you know it."

Sakamoto simply laughs his infuriating laugh and claps Nobunobu on the shoulder. "Sorry 'bout that, Shogun-sama, I'm not so great with names, ahahaha. Can ya ever forgive this _grievous_ trespass?"

Nobunobu rolls his eyes and crosses his arms with a huff. "Just hurry up and help me finish these documents," he grumbles, burying his nose in a stack of papers as thick as an encyclopedia.

Sakamoto obliges, biting back a grin, and sits down across from Nobunobu, grabbing a good chunk of the stack for himself.

_He's an odd fellow_ , Nobunobu thinks. It's not the first time he's had this thought (and probably not the last, either), but he thinks it anyway. He _is_ odd. Not many people would dare to give the barbarian subduing shogun a nickname of all things. Then again, Sakamoto Tatsuma has also personally witnessed the shogun shitting his pants in the middle of negotiations, so Nobunobu assumes that any reverence for his position is probably out the window at this point.

Even so, the exchange leaves a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. It's the first time anyone has called him by a nickname.

* * *

 

Katsura Kotaro is surprisingly quick to latch onto the name, much to Nobunobu's annoyance. He'd always thought of Katsura as a polite man, if maybe a little scatterbrained. Katsura is something of a rebel, but he still respects titles, if not always the people who held them. So needless to say, when Katsura starts calling his shogun by a pet name, Nobunobu is more than a little disconcerted.

"Katsura," Nobunobu says lightly one morning during a policy meeting, trying his best not to lose his cool, "don't you think it's a little inappropriate to use nicknames while we're discussing business?"

Katsura cocks an eyebrow, surprised. "Nicknames...?"

"Yes. Nicknames. You don't have to call me Shogun-sama or anything like that, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't call me 'Nobu' while we're working." He pauses. "Actually if you could just never call me Nobu, that'd be great."

Katsura frowns, confused. "What do you want me to call you, then?"

Nobunobu blinks. "My... my name?"

"Ah. Right. Of course." Katsura clears his throat and shifts uncomfortably in his chair. "Your name. Yes. Silly of me." He shuffles the papers on the table in front of them with a little cough and looks to Sakamoto to resume his proposal.

Nobunobu narrows his eyes. "Katsura," he begins slowly, "you _do_ know what my name is, yes?"

Katsura begins to sweat. "Don't be ridiculous," he says briskly. "Of course I know your name."

"Which is...?"

Katsura's eyes dart around the room like he's looking for an exit. "N...Nobu...tatsu?"

Nobunobu pinches the bridge of his nose, letting out a long breath. "No."

Katsura frantically corrects himself, flushing deep red. "Of course not, I'm thinking of my - ah - barber. Your name is... Nobutarou."

"No."

"Nobuyoshi?"

"No."

"Nobuto."

"Okay, now you're just fucking with me."

Katsura bristles, now red right down to the tips of his ears. "I thought Nobu _was_ your full name!" he says defensively, crossing his arms.

Nobunobu groans. "No, my name is Nobunobu. Hitotsubashi Nobunobu, in case you forgot that part too."

"It's an awful stuffy name, if you don't mind me sayin'," Sakamoto chimes in cheerfully from across the table. "I think Nobu suits ya better."

"You can hush," Nobunobu grumbles. "You started this whole mess."

"Granted, ahaha."

"Anyway," Nobunobu huffs, "I just find it inappropriate. I don't call you Tatsu, do I? I don't call Katsura Zura."

Sakamoto eyes him curiously. "What's stoppin' ya?"

This makes Nobunobu pause.

"It's... I... It just isn't appropriate!" he splutters. "We're supposed to be discussing business. I feel like you aren't taking this seriously. Or taking me seriously, for that matter." It occurs to him once again that both of these men have seen him in sweatpants before, so they probably don't take him very seriously, but that's beside the point. "We're gathered here as diplomats, not chums grabbing a couple of drinks, or whatever the hell you get up to in your spare time."

Katsura nods sagely. "I see. You're upset because we don't invite you for drinks more often."

"What? No! That's not–" He stops. Breathes. Closes his eyes. "This conversation is going to give me an ulcer. Can we please just get back to work now?"

Sakamoto and Katsura exchange a small glance, but without any further argument, Sakamoto continues with his proposal.

Nobunobu listens silently, thinking.

* * *

"Hey. Sorry."

Nobunobu looks up from his desk, startled. "God you scared me, don't you knock?" he breathes, putting down his pen with a long breath. "Sorry for what?"

Sakamoto sits down on top of Nobunobu's desk – which is somewhat irritating, but it's late and Nobunobu isn't really in the mood to argue – and shrugs. "For callin' ya Nobu. I shoulda asked before givin' you a nickname like that. I guess you're probably kinda tired of other people deciding stuff like that for ya."

Nobunobu blinks, astonished. "Oh... well, thank you," he says, a little flustered. "I - ah - I guess that's settled now."

Sakamoto doesn't leave.

"...Something else you need?" Nobunobu prompts awkwardly.

Sakamoto glances at him thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. "Say, if ya don't mind me askin', how come you're so attached to you're name?"

The silence in the room is palpable as Nobunobu stares at Sakamoto, taken aback. "Well... it's my _name_ ," he says uncertainly. "I'm sort of attached to it by definition, aren't I?"

"Aw, y'know what I mean," Sakamoto says dismissively. "You don't like people callin' ya by your title, but nicknames are off the table too. You just want people to know ya by your name. There a reason for that?"

Nobunobu shifts uncomfortably in his seat. "Well, not really," he mumbles, "it's just that it's my name. I'm not trying to make a statement. I think we can probably both agree that the title 'shogun' doesn't mean much of anything at this point, so why use it? And as for nicknames, like I said, I just... don't find it very professional." He shuffles the papers on his desk, looking anywhere but at Sakamoto. "I'm not here to pal around. I have to take responsibility."

He picks up the stack of papers and lightly taps them on the desk to straighten them out. "Frankly, I don't know why you insist on trying to be so buddy-buddy about all this." _Tap tap tap_. "It isn't like we're old comrades, like you and Katsura and your other friends. Not to mention that said friends were personal friends with the... the previous shogun." _Tap tap tap_. "I'm not looking for anyone's forgiveness, so you don't have to pretend it's all water under the bridge. I'm just here to take responsibility for the consequences of my actions. As long as the work gets done, I don't really care about the sentiments behind it."

_Tap tap tap_.

"You can hate me if you like."

Sakamoto's expression is unreadable behind his glasses, and Nobunobu wishes to God that he would break the silence with some poorly timed joke, or his infuriating laugh, just _something_ to ease the heaviness in the air. But he doesn't. He looks at Nobunobu for a moment, then looks out the window as the stars begin to appear in the night sky, one by one, scratching the back of his head in thought.

Then finally, mercifully, he speaks.

"We're a pretty stupid bunch, y'know."

Nobunobu sighs, rubbing his eyes. "How so?"

Sakamoto shrugs again. "Call me a sap if ya like, but I don't much care for makin' enemies. The others might scold me for it, and that's probably fair, since it did get me in a lotta trouble back in the day." He glances back at Nobunobu. "But in the end, I think they feel the same. Hatred doesn't feel too great on either side, y'know."

Something in Nobunobu's chest begins to tighten like a vice, and he lets out a sharp, impatient breath. "What are you trying to say?"

Sakamoto hops down from the desk and stuffs his hands in his pockets, already headed for the door. "Just that there's a reason people remember you better as Nobu these days." And with a friendly wave goodnight, he leaves Nobunobu to try to unravel the horrible knot in his chest.

* * *

The next morning, Nobunobu passes by a bespectacled Katsura, his nose buried in some dossier, eyes laser focused.

Nobunobu takes a deep breath and steels himself. "Good morning... Zura." The name feels clunky in his mouth and doesn't roll off the tongue so much as it does trip and land with a thud.

Katsura looks up from his papers, startled out of his train of thought. His surprise seems to double when he realizes who had addressed him, his eyes widening behind his glasses.

But then his face smooths back over, and Nobunobu swears he can see the faintest of smiles hovering on Katsura's mouth as he says, "It's not Zura, it's Katsura."

**Author's Note:**

> Don't talk to me about business!Zura and his reading glasses bc you just cannot convince me it won't be real someday. Photo booth OVA when
> 
> Also, please correct me if I got Nobunobu's name wrong. I couldn't remember if his name was still Hitotsubashi or if it had been changed to Tokugawa. Anyway, I love you lots Tay and I hope you have a great 2nd birthday!!


End file.
